Rhetorical Analysis Modified

Yuli Wang

Yuli Wang Professor McLaughlin Multimedia Writing & Rhetoric 10 April 2016

Dialogue between self and other in the identity formation: A Film Analysis of Dear White People At the first glance, Justin Simien’s provoking film Dear White People talks about the racial issue in a fictional Ivy League college as a miniature of the contemporary society. Basically the film is about the school life of four black students, Troy, Lionel, Sam and Coco on a white-centered campus. Being labeled as black, all of them fight continuously for their right as a minor race while all the white are on the opposite of the fight. However, though the film critiques race relations in the 21 st Century, it also invites viewers to relate race to the identity formation of young adults rather than merely see it as a static category. In the film, by presenting the stories of four students with clear identities, Simien discusses about how identity formation involves the complex negotiation between one side of self and another side of self, self and other, as well the negotiation of identity categories like race, sexuality, status and family background, which may be not as simple as they seem to be.

Through the combination of characterization, sound, lighting, dialogue and other film techniques, the film points out that no matter how hard the others or another side of yourself stop you from being who you are, their efforts on changing your

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appearance at last always turn out to be the catalyst for yourself to discover your true identity. As images are produced according to social and aesthetic conventions (Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, 25), Simien uses this film as an approach of rhetoric to express his emotions and thoughts to his audience with the goal of persuading them (Herrick, 4) about the identity formation of young adults in the real life by using the rhetoric’s knowledge-building function (Herrick, 21).

As the introduction of two white-and-black couples, Troy and Sophie, and Sam and her white TA, the film is first pushed into the discussion of the impacts of race and sexuality on the identity formation. The starting scene of the film that Sophie introduced Troy to Coco as her boyfriend shows us a picture of a model couple. The girl is pretty and eloquent while the boy in the nice suit has a face of leadership and body of athletes. The two looks to be so matching in every side, except their race.

However, with the plot develops, this small but prominent difference becomes the very first element that hold the two together. The previous seemingly wonderful relationship turns out to be nothing more than a means to irritate the parent.

Sophie is a perfect girlfriend to Troy not because they are in love but only because Sophie is a white and she is the daughter of Troy’s father’ lifetime rival. Exactly following his father’s idea in every aspect, the only thing on which Troy can make decision by himself is the choice of the girlfriend. Having subjected to his father and hated doing so for such a long time, Troy uses this unique way to rebel. Viewers can easily see Troy’s success on infuriation from his father’s impatience every time on the mention of Sophie. In the other couple, similar case is shown. Against any white,

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the closest person except her father Sam sees is her boyfriend, a white. It is with her white TA that Sam finds a place to break down from the great figure of rebellious leader. Opposite to what she looks like, Sam hesitates a lot before taking some radical actions. More likely, she is a leader pushed by her black friends. Only with her boyfriend can Sam be the weak little girl she actually is. In both cases, whether the love is real or fake, the sexuality relationship is offering the lovers a place to deviate from others’ hope and be what they actually is or want to be. The relationship is actively taking the role of protecting lovers from the compulsory demands from the outside world and helping them to make their own decisions.

In addition, as anybody is not living separately from the social contexts (Remix, 8), not only the opposite-sex relationship takes part in the identity formation but also the relationship inside the family. Though Troy is depicted as a leader, Troy’s conversation with his father in the office shows us the fact that being a great black leader is only the dream of his father rather than his own. Sitting in the office, after Troy tells about his idea of joining the staff od Pastiche, a satirical newspaper on campus, led by Kurt, the son of the school’s president, and pauses for several times because of anxiety, his father gives him a facial expression as he can’t imagine that his son will ever have such stupid thinking and rejects him doing so on every point.

Facing to such reaction, all that Troy can say is only “Yes, sir.” Troy’s fear and carefulness of saying anything that may not accord with his father’s expectation and accept and obedience to father’s negation show the viewers that the image of

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being perfect is only the side he is forced to show and the real Troy is the one taking drug in the bathroom, having an inconspicuous tattoo on the waist.

While all the time Troy keeps that rebellious him secretly, he finally bursts into having a stormy quarrel with his father about the insult on black at Kurt’s party after realizing that he, as the one gives the suggestion about the party to Kurt, should take part of responsibility for the problem. Such outbreak during the cocktail donor party because of the no longer bearing of saying “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” is the very beginning of Troy doing exactly as he wants rather than as his father wants.

The choice of reacting against his father to do the thing Troy himself values is an example of how others’ attempt on changing one’s identity is always a failure. This reflects to the viewpoint in Introduction to Identity that identity is shaped by our personal choices and decisions, including those about social relationships and anything else we care about. (ReMix, 11) Only we ourselves can build our own identity but no one else. Though at first others’ attempt may restrain us from being who we are, at last the true identity will still take the place either eventually or after an outbreak.

Additionally, people, as being able to being affected by others, can take influences from others consciously. In the story of Lionel, the boy who reminded everyone of his identity as a black wherever he went with the significant “afro”, Simien uses this figure to explore people’s ability of using others specifically as a stimulus for discovery of identity. Right from the beginning while Lionel sitting outside the

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locked dormitory hall, having his single suitcase with him, the film presents us with a boy who can be a perfect representative of people who are oppressed by everyone.

As reframing shows viewers part of a photograph and then the whole of it to support the film’s claim (Lancioni 111), the comparison of all others having breakfast in groups while only Lionel is sitting there alone, looking poor, gives audience an image of a bullied student who is disliked by the whole world in more detail, forcing the viewer to hold pity for this lonely boy. At the moment, except Troy’s status in the bottom of the pyramid, we know nothing about him personally.

Nevertheless, as the film carries forward, Lionel begins to show us part of his personality and the reason why he seems to have no characteristics. Outside the hall, before both of them headed to the parties, Lionel tells Troy his story of being bullied by anyone in the middle school just because he is black and he is gay. The attack from the classmates at last leads to his choice of being alone, being silent and being weak even though he is not such a person in nature as we can see his rage through his writings for the newspaper. After listening to the story, having never really looked at Lionel, Troy calls him and says, “If I was in your high school, I would have your back.” As Lionel leaves with his head down, the scene leaves the assumption that he is moved. The saying sheds new light for Lionel, making him believe that now, in Winchester, he can be whom he is because he has at least one person’s support. In the following scene, Lionel changes into the leader of confronting with the assault on black at the Halloween party. While in the beginning of the film, he was still the one who only dares to complain about Kurt to

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Dean, now he is the one fighting with Kurt outside the house for the right of black, letting out his anger. As it says in Introduction to Identity, we pick up the influences of our surroundings, (ReMix, 9) Lionel accepts Troy’s support and sees it as a basic for him to change to show his true identity. While Troy hasn’t even realized his word’s importance, Lionel finds its value and makes use of it to be the person who he wants to be.

The last character that shows up is Sam holding a camera. More than a simple character, her appearance in the film is to make us, audience rethink about all those points on identity and put ourselves into the situation in the film. While at first, from her speech for the house election to broadcasting program “Dear White People”, Sam gives audience an impression as a radical revolutionary leader. Her following scenes of recording, such as the video presentation during the class, last recording of the Halloween party and people’s reaction toward the problem on campus and even in the nation, keep telling us that rather than an activist pushed by people like Reggie, Sam is more like a documenter. Her record of the whole story gives audience a feeling that this is a real thing happened and pushes people to put themselves into the case. As images can produce in us a wide array of emotions and responses (Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, 10), the intro part while Sam holding a camera, recording either the news or reaction of us, audience, makes people think that if they are at the party, who are they, the ones wearing the mask or the ones calling everything to stop? Justin uses Sam, a recorder, to put us,

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audience into the setting and force us to think as an outsider, to take his idea about identity.

More than a film about racism, Dear White People presents itself as a story about four black students experiencing different levels of struggle of finding the true identity in a white society. When others’ obstruction, depressing environment all seem to stop people from being who they are, the changes that the characters undergo proves us that the identity is only chosen by the people themselves but not anybody around them. All the effect of others’ interference is only to drive people into corners so that they must find out their identity and show them. With the success of the use of the combination of framing, light, sound, dialogue and other film techniques, rather than propagates its theme about identity directly to the viewers, the film makes them to get the viewpoint that nothing but audience themselves have the control of their identity through their own thinking after watching Dear White People.

Citing Works

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James A. Herrick. The History and Theory of Rhetoric, 2nd edition. Boston: Pearson Education. 2005. Print. 21.

Judith Lancioni. The Rhetoric of the Frame Revisiong Archival Photographs in “The Civil War”. Western Journal of Communication. 1996. Print. 11, 111.

Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford University Press. 2001. Print

Yuli, Thank you for submitting your rhetorical analysis essay. I could see you working hard to organize the paper around discussion of four main characters, and you’re clearly interested in talking about what the film tries to say about identity formation. There was some effort to integrate a couple of quotes here and there, as well as an effort to discuss important scenes in the film that show characters struggling with some aspect of their identity. However, much of the paper is difficult to follow, and I think some reorganization may help tremendously. See if you can establish your thesis earlier and more succinctly (i.e., “Though the film critiques race relations in the 21st Century, it also invites viewers to see race not as a static category. Instead, the film argues that identity formation involves the complex negotiation between self and other, as well the negotiation of identity categories like race, sexuality, and gender, which may not be as simple categories as they seem.” That seems to really be the heart of what you’re trying to show us, so then see if you can devote the rest of the paragraphs of the essay to “proving” that thesis. You’re currently organizing the paper character-by-character, which is okay; but you may find that organizing point-by-point puts you in a better position, argumentatively. For instance, you could focus an entire paragraph around showing us how the film explores the intersection of race and gender and how that shapes the characters’ experiences in the film. You could devote an entirely different paragraph to discussion of how the film examines intersections of race and sexuality or dating practices. Whatever points of analysis you choose, be sure to integrate source material that helps you to explain how the scene is working persuasively on viewers, focusing on certain elements in order to invite a particular response that is relevant to your thesis. Some definition early on of what rhetoric is an why it’s important to the study of the film at hand may add some important academic framing, too. Finally, be sure to review MLA page and citation guidelines,

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available on the Purdue OWL website, and which we reviewed step-by-step in class, then save time for a thorough sentence-level edit for clarity. There’s plenty to work with here, and some careful revision will make your great observations shine.

Thanks for your hard work, and let me know if you have any questions.

Best, Dr. McLaughlin Grade: 119/150 = 79.3% = C+